While the WFTDA algorithm remains blind to some of last weekend’s biggest matchups, the fans in Nantes, and us at home, got to see the reality of the European rankings play out exactly as it happened on the track.
One lesson we did take away from last weekend? Jammers don’t just get hit out anymore; they get hit out and down! Blockers are taking absolutely no chances. Doesn’t matter if you’ve only got 1 hand down if both your shoulders, or your bum, is down there too.
Nothing Toulouse vs. London Brawling (Unsanctioned)
Toulouse set the tone for the weekend immediately on Saturday morning. As we discussed in our Super Seven preview (and have confirmed) Toulouse made the strategic decision to play all of their games this weekend as unsanctioned. We have reached out to Nothing Toulouse to find out what was behind this decision and will bring you any update they share with us.
So, we’re going to presume it was to protect their microscopic Game Point Average (GPA) lead. And, unburdened by the algorithm, off they went. Offensive and defensive switching? Utterly seamless, anchored by incredibly smart leadership from Sweenie #19 and flawless jammer tracking from Lilove #747. Toulouse took a comfortable 191-74 victory, while London used the unsanctioned game to dial in a highly disciplined, strict five-jammer rotation that they would rely on for the rest of the weekend.
Nantes vs. Rainy City All Stars (Sanctioned)
When the first sanctioned game of the weekend kicked off, Rainy City’s veteran wall immediately made its presence known. The hosts had a weekend of slow starts, but Rainy was suffocating. Putting up a defensive shutout for the first 8 jams of the game and holding Nantes under 20 points for nearly the entire first period. Nantes’ Adrénalinss (#12) and Pignouf #252 managed to find some momentum late, but Rainy secured a dominant 183-86 win.
Nantes vs. London Brawling (Sanctioned)
The most competitive sanctioned game of WTS 11 happened right in the middle of Saturday afternoon. Lifted by a phenomenally loud home crowd, Nantes and London threw down in a gritty, middleweight grinder.
The Streak vs. The Comeback
In the second period, Nantes went on an absolute tear, securing Lead Jammer 8 times in a row to build a commanding 34-point lead (128-94) with ten minutes left. But London’s penalty kill units held the line, and in Jam 21, London’s Ellis (#18) capitalised on a double power jam to drop 23 points. In the very next jam, Pip #91 followed up with a 14-point run to completely erase the deficit. Ultimately though, Nantes managed to claw back the final points to win a sanctioned nail-biter, 140-131.
Nothing Toulouse vs. Rainy City (Unsanctioned)
Saturday closed out with the most anticipated game of the weekend: a brilliant, unsanctioned heavyweight clash showcasing two completely different derby philosophies.
Toulouse launched their Aerial Assault, with Jammer Trash Panda (#49) spending the game leaping over any apex the blockers offered up, while Mac (#007) proved equally lethal on, and over, the inside line.
But they faced slick offense and Veteran walls. Rainy City countered with sheer experience and control. Jammer #02 Black was impossibly smooth, dropping crucial 10-point and 12-point jams in the first period to create separation in a dead-even game. When Rainy’s blockers set up, they were formidable, pulling off a narrow 157-142 victory to establish themselves as the true winners of the weekend.
Sunday Blowouts
By Sunday morning, the gap between the Breakaway Pack and the rest of the Top 10 turned into a chasm.
Rainy City vs. London Brawling (Sanctioned)
Rainy City’s blocker rotation of Penny Block, Lily Gaskell (#88), Rollo, El Nassar, Roberts, F.Batts, and MacBeth provided a masterclass in well-drilled defense. They held London’s jammers to just 15 points across 23 jams in the first period, cruising to a brutal 237-60 sanctioned win. (And a quick warning: Rainy’s #38 will exact revenge if you mess with their jammer.)
Nantes vs. Nothing Toulouse (Unsanctioned)
Toulouse closed out their unsanctioned weekend sweep by unleashing a devastating offensive against the hosts. Trash Panda’s very first jam out, repeatedly jumped the apexes, and put up 24 points, without a power jam. Nantes fought hard, relying on Valére #11 for relentless offense, but Toulouse walked away with a massive 255-70 victory.
WTS 11 By the Numbers & Rankings Twister
Taking a look at the raw data from the weekend, the classic stats tell the story of the current European hierarchy perfectly:
Highest Scoring Individual Jams:
Lead Jammer Battles:
The heavyweight fight between Toulouse and Rainy City was a statistical dead heat. Both teams fought tooth and nail, resulting in a perfectly even split of 20 Lead Jammer statuses each. Against the rest of the pack, Rainy and Toulouse both secured Lead over 75% of the time.
Biggest Differentials Overcome: London erasing a 34-point deficit in exactly two jams against Nantes is easily the comeback attempt of the weekend, proving that no lead is safe against a disciplined jammer rotation.
An Algorithmic Twist: Toulouse thought they played the maths perfectly. By keeping all three of their WTS 11 games unsanctioned, they protected their GPA from any potential dips. However, the algorithm waits for no one!
Because Rainy City played sanctioned blowout games against London and Nantes, they pumped their own numbers up enough to close that microscopic 4.85 point gap. According to the brand-new WFTDA live rankings, Rainy City has officially leapfrogged Toulouse to take the #1 spot in Europe.
And the shakeups didn’t stop there. Over in Belgium, Paris’s sheer dominance has officially bumped them up to the #3 spot, pushing Crime City down to #4. The math changes everything, but to truly understand why the math changed, you had to be in the building.
Luckily for us, we had someone on the inside! So, to get us the reality of the Antwerp Triple Header, we handed the mic over to our correspondent on the scene: the legendary dorkmistress (Tournament Head Announcer amongst many, many, many other job titles). Here is her dispatch from a bracket-busting weekend.
Heartbreak, Hope, and High Speeds – Antwerp Triple Header
An on-site event report from dorkmistress for EDN
Anyone interested in European roller derby had a tough weekend, in choosing which game to watch in the most packed weekend for elite roller derby.
The minute Antwerp announced a triple header with themselves, Crime City Rollers and Paris All-Stars, I booked my travel. With Paris beating Crime City at Capitol Clash in November 2025 and Antwerp consistently upping their game, this weekend would give a good understanding of where these most interesting teams in the WFTDA Europe Top #10 really sit. My conclusion after watching three fantastic games?
Those rankings don’t reflect where these teams are, which will most likely lead to brackets being broken all over the place in Namur.
Crime City Rollers v Antwerp One Love
Antwerp have been on the rise for some time with slow, steady progression up, and into, the top 10. But are they starting to bridge the gap between the two halves of the top 10. The GPA says they are a way behind but from the first whistle the action on track showed they are an increasing force to contend with. Antwerp were in control (and the lead) for 90 per cent of the game, matching Crime City jam for jam, securing Lead Jammer status an incredible 31 times compared to Crime City’s 22.
Anything Fanilla Slice #90 could do, Hipshot #89 could do as well, and often better. The length of jams were measured in seconds not minutes, as the other jammer would get out right behind and force a call off. Every single point mattered to these teams.
The data proves it: out of 53 total jams, 42 of them saw the lead jammer score 4 points or fewer before calling it off.
The noticeable thing in the pack across all three games was how fast blockers get across and along the track. No more juking to get the wall to one side and then speeding past them on the inside/outside. The speed and agility of blockers has been supercharged and now jammers need to know about how to break a wall down, not just move it to the side. Thrilling roller derby at its absolute finest.
In the end Antwerp had a crucial jammer penalty 5 minutes from the end, opening a door for Crime City who used all their experience in these moments. In the very next jam, Crime City’s Fanilla Slice secured a massive 19-point run to steal the lead and eventually secure the 137-124 win.
Crime City didn’t have all the blockers they wanted that day, and Antwerp had home team advantage, sure. But what I saw was two very closely matched teams. That gap between #3 and #7 never felt smaller.
Crime City Rollers V Paris All-Stars
20 minutes later Crime City had to brush off that experience and face up to their new nemesis – Paris.
Capitol Clash in November 2025 provided outside observers with a bit of shock when Paris took the win. But for people watching the French Elite Championships it was no more than an expected outcome.
Paris has been on fire for some time now. Heading into the game, many would expect Paris to squeak the win. Paris had other plans. Sheer dominance was their tactic, and from the start they simply shut Crime City down, ultimately winning 216-91.
No matter how much Crime City tried to change the game and the tactics, Paris had an answer to keep the Crime jammers in the pack, taking Lead Jammer 33 times to Crime City’s 14. Paris also excelled at positional blocking from the jam line, giving their jammer an entire lane from the whistle.
Crime responded in the only way possible, star passing to Rhino #23 at every opportunity to force the call off. (In fact, Crime City was forced into making 14 star passes throughout the game just to survive the onslaught).
I want to rewatch this game in slow motion to really understand how the Paris blockers worked the pack, as it was all going so fast I felt I was watching the game at 1.25 speed. Dynamic blocking doesn’t even begin to cover what we watched.
Crime City were effective in reducing the multiple scoring trips and worked hard to stop Paris opening a wider gap but in the end Paris were in full control of the game.
Crime City has time now to go and review, dissect and ponder before Namur. One thing we know is that they have a strategy genius on their bench who will come back fighting after this weekend. Down, but not even a hand out.
Paris All-Stars vs Antwerp One Love
In many ways, watching game 3 felt like a replay of game 2 – showing just how closely Crime City and Antwerp are matched at the moment.
Both faced similar challenges in dealing with the Paris steam train. With Paris winning this one 196-66.
I watched oddly familiar moments where Antwerp were able to wrest momentum and control back, securing Lead Jammer 18 times against this Paris powerhouse but they struggled blocking off the jam line. And a remarkably similar amount of energy, commitment and heart was displayed on track.
dork’s Conclusions
No matter what the Europe rankings show come April 1st, it will not reflect the current state of play. Rainy City & Nothing Toulouse are locked in for #1 & #2, no matter the order but now Paris Allstars have begun to separate themselves from the rest of the top 10 too.
Antwerp’s performance says ‘What gap?!’, so teams in the #4-#7 spots can only be separated by the width of a sheet of paper. And the same is true for #8-#13.
So if there are extra invites to Champs on the table in Namur, it will be IMPOSSIBLE to predict who would secure the extra invite(s). And heads up, get your eye in for watching blockers, because they now move close to the speed of light!
Editor’s Wrap-Up: Maths, Momentum, and the Road to Namur
dorkmistress is absolutely right, if the Super Seven weekend showed us anything, it’s that the WFTDA algorithm only tells half the story, and the physical speed of the European game has been fundamentally supercharged.
When we fired up the laptop on Monday to look at the new WFTDA Live Rankings, the landscape of Euro Derby had shifted. Toulouse tried to play the maths safely by relying on unsanctioned bouts, but Rainy City’s sheer sanctioned dominance propelled them into the coveted #1 spot in Europe. Meanwhile, Paris proved that their November upset was no fluke, steamrolling their way into the #3 spot and cementing themselves in the elite Breakaway Pack.
But as the numbers crunch and the Game Point Averages settle, the real takeaway from this weekend isn’t just who sits at the very top. It’s the terrifying, razor-thin margins of the middle of the pack. Crime City, London, Nantes, and Antwerp all proved that on any given weekend, they have the defensive grit, the deep jammer rotations, and the tactical agility to break a game wide open.
With the WFTDA European Championships in Namur looming on the horizon, the stakes have never been higher. The battle for those top 12 invites is officially a dogfight. If the tournament seeding ends up reflecting this weekend’s beautiful, brutal chaos, we are in for the most unpredictable postseason in European derby history.
Don’t miss a single jam on the road to Namur. Make sure you follow us on Instagram at @euroderbynews for real-time reactions and upset alerts as soon as WFTDA drops the official tournament bracket. And if you haven’t already, subscribe to the Substack to get our deep-dive analysis and rankings breakdowns delivered straight to your inbox!
